Trapped by a shower of shrapnel: Photographer finds himself perilously close to the centre of action in war-torn Damascus

Bent double with their arms wrapped around their heads, these men - and the photographer who took this sequence of terrifying pictures - are caught at the heart of a blast so violent it seems extraordinary that they survived.

With shrapnel still raining hard on their fragile bodies, they stumble half-blind through a battle-scarred neighbourhood area of Damascus after the building above them was hit by tank shells.

The images of rebel fighters were captured by Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic, who was embedded with a group of Syrian Free Army soldiers as they launched their assault on a government checkpoint controlled by forces loyal to the country's President Bashar al-Assad.

They give a front line view of being in the blast zone of an exploding tank shell, capture the terrifying power of a rocket-propelled grenade and the horrifying moment a fighter is shot by a sniper.

Rubble: One of the fighters cautiously looks around the corner of a building as fires burn in the streets beyond

Shrapnel: Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover as a tank shell explodes on a wall during heavy fighting in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus

Cover: The fighters were attacking a Syrian army checkpoint when the tank responded with heavy fire

War wounds: An injured Free Syrian Army fighter holds his head soon after the tank shell hit

Writing on the Reuters blog, Mr Tomasevic said: 'One moment, I heard
two incoming shots. I was already aiming my camera on these two Syrian
rebels. I heard the scream and saw one of them get shot.

'He was still alive as I was shooting but dying as he was carried away.

'The rebel next to him was also shot and injured but he should recover after being hit in the stomach.'

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The
rebel assault comprised two groups. One was sent to fire rocket
propelled grenades from a further distance away from the checkpoint and
the group the photographer was hunkered down with were sent to to engage the soldiers manning the checkpoint.

Mr Tomasevic saw sandbags and tanks and immediately took cover.

He
added: 'There were two rebels next to me and two rebels across the
street. A couple of sniper shots were fired. They were clearly sniper
shots, not AKs (assault rifles).

The shocking moment a Free Syrian Army fighter (left) looks at his comrade as he gets shot by sniper fire during heavy fighting

The photographer ducked back after the bullets hit as the rest of the strike force look on helpless

The fighter drags his comrade out of the line of fire. His efforts were to no avail, the man later died

Fading: The dying man's rifle is abandoned as his fellow fighters try to pull him to safety

The fighting raged for hours as the two sides traded machine gun fire, tanks shells, grenades, rockets and mortar shells

Fatal: The fighters call for help as they assist their fallen comrade

Grief: A wounded Free Syrian Army fighter cries after hearing that his friend died in the mission

'After the rebel was killed
they pulled back maybe 20-30 metres and I took pictures of the body
being taken out.

'The hole where the rebels had to drag the body through
was really small and it was difficult to drag him through. There was a lot of fire as the rebels dragged him away.

'A tank fired a couple of shells onto the top of the building and rubble fell down around us.'

The
heavy fighting went on for hours, with many rocket strikes and attacks
on multiple sites. The rebels eventually pulled back and fired
mortar shells.

Fiery wrath: Photographer Goran Tomasevic captured the intensive fighting as the rebel group fought to overrun a government checkpoint in a Damascus neighborhood

A fighter chances a glance at the Syrian Army position around the corner

He added: 'From what I’ve seen the fighting is up and down. The lines between the Free Syrian Army and the government army are
pretty clear.

'Since I’ve been here it’s literally been going
house by house. The other day there was a rebel next to me who was
struck by shrapnel.

'The rebels and the government forces are
close enough to be throwing hand grenades at one another. You can hear
them shouting at each other.'

The Syrian civil war has raged for 22 months. Observers estimate it has cost more than 60,000 people their lives.

Smoke billows behind two fighters as look back at the camera

Lull: Rebels rest in the Haresta neighbourhood of Damascus

Faith: The rebels pray in a lull in the fighting. Right, two warriors rest on each other in the absence of bedding